Equalizer Pretty Cure
by HarmonianTraveller
Summary: Kokune Mystic is your typical everyday middle scholar who leads a normal life, with a secret to keep and a mysterious past. But a fateful encounter with a fox-Busho, has changed his life for the better... or worse? Join he and his friends as they fight as Pretty Cures and uncover mysteries between their everyday lives!
1. Chapter 1

Mod: Okay, after reading a few Pretty Cure fanfics, I finally came up with this story. I don't know how far I can go, but we'll see, won't we?  
Mystic: Hmph. Don't count on her to go _that_ far. Since she's so useless.*grabs incoming fist with ease*  
Mod: Don't insult me! Don't worry readers. I'll try my best to write this story! Um… disclaimer!  
Myst: Okay! Mod-san does not own the Pretty Cure series.  
Yomi: I-If she does own Pretty Cure, there would be more male characters.  
Aoi: She apologizes if the reader is against the male character(not really)being the main character in Pretty Cure.  
Riko: But hey, this is fanfiction, right? Don't like, just don't read! Let's start the story, shall we?

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Chapter 1: I am a Pretty Cure…?

~Mystic's P.O.V~  
"I'm off…" I called out as I walked out of the house/dojo.  
"'kay, good luck on your first day of school!" A voice replied.  
After walking for a few minutes, I was joined by another person.  
"Oh hi, Myst." I said.  
"Ohayou, Mi-kun! Today's our first day in middle school. Aren't cha excited?" she said, jumping up and down next to me while passersby eyed us strangely. "Mhmn, sure I am." I replied nonchalantly.

Yes, it was the start of a new semester for us—in middle school. We had just turned 13 this year. We're attending the 'Maboroshi Gakuen'. …Yes, I know, a strange name. It's a co-ed school. Truth to be told, I was kinda interested in that school, seeing that it had a unique name and all…

As we entered the school grounds, we-no, Myst bumped into a girl by accident. The girl had green hair and a pair of emerald eyes. She seemed like a freshman.  
"Ah, we're sorry! Are you okay?" Myst asked the girl, helping her up.  
"I-I'm fine. T-Thank you." The girl replied as she stood up, dusting her uniform.  
"I am Shirone Myst. Nice to meet you! What's your name?" Myst said, smiling brightly.  
"A-Ah, My name is Homura Yomi! U-um…" The girl—Yomi said, and turn to face me. She seemed to only notice me for the first time.  
"…Hm? Ack!" Myst had elbowed me, hard, in the ribs.  
"_Mi-kun! Don't be rude and introduce yourself too!_" She whispered to me.  
"_Well I was just about to do that!_" I whispered back.  
After half a second(as I recovered), I said, "My name is Kokune Mystic. Nice to make your acquaintance. " as I bowed politely. Why, you asked. Well, it's because I heard that bowing is to show politeness, so I decided to try it out.  
Her reaction to my gesture was what I had gotten used to—her face was flushed beet red. I sighed inwardly. '_Is she another cat lover?'_ That was my thoughts at that time. The brave ones would _always_ try to glomp me. Me, but _not _Myst. Why!? We both look like cats!(which was a mystery to the both of us) So why not her?  
A fake cough from Myst snapped me out of my thoughts. "Anyway, I think we will be great friends, Homura-san! C'mon, let's go see what class we're in!"  
"O-Okay! You can call me Yomi if you want to…"  
"Right! Then you can call me anything you want!" They both smiled at each other. I said nothing. I think I would stick with Homura-san.  
"Saate, ikuyo~!" Myst called out as she stretched out her right leg and pointed towards the school building. That gesture earned a giggle from Homura-san and a small smile from me. …What? That's what I could only offer at that time. Then, we headed towards the school.

~Yomi's P.O.V~  
Many students were gathered in front of the board when we got there, looking for their classes. Then I heard Myst-san said,"Let's see, where are our classes…ah, over there! Mi-kun! We're in the same class—in Class Harmony!"  
Neko-cha - Mystic nodded."It seems like it."  
I quickly moved my eyes around the board, searching for my name. I found it eventually, under Class Harmony! " I-I'm in your class, too!" I exclaimed. Now I still wondered when I would stop stuttering.  
"Ehh? Really? Wow! We're all in the same class! How lucky!" Myst said. Mystic offered me a small smile and said, "That's great, Homura-san." I could feel the heat rising up to my face. He's just too cute for some reason.  
"Thank you, Neko-cha - Kokune-kun…" I said as I averted my eyes. I had just received a smile from a cute black cat! For some reason I didn't know, that was how I saw him.

_In the classroom_  
~Mystic's P.O.V~  
I chose a seat next to the window - my favorite seat—so that I could look out of the window when I felt bored. Myst chose the seat in front of me, while Homura-san chose the seat next to me. Since there was plenty of time before class starts, Myst—after putting down her backpack—immediately went all around the classroom, making friends, as usual. Homura-san was just sitting there reading a book. I leaned my head on my left hand and look out of the closed window. Suddenly, I felt someone tapping my right shoulder. I turned around, and saw Myst, with another two girls. "Mi-kun, Yomi-chan, meet Akairo Riko and Kiyoraka Aoi. Riko-chan, Kiyoraka-chan, meet Kokune Mystic and Homura Yomi." Myst said. And 'Kiyoraka-chan'? She must not like it when people she just met called her by her first name.  
The girl with reddish hair and a pair of orange eyes—Akairo-san, said, "Nice to meet'cha!" in a boyish way. A tomboy, huh…  
The other girl with light bluish hair and a pair of azure eyes—Kiyoraka-san, said, "I am glad to make your acquaintance." In a polite manner, and bowed gracefully.  
Homura-san and I said our greetings, then we chatted for awhile. Well, more like Myst and Akairo-san chattered while Homura-san and Kiyoraka-san nodded and said some things occasionally. Apparently, Myst is interested in myths. Homura-san likes small animals. Akairo-san and Kiyoraka-san are good friends. They had decided to attend this school together. Well, more like Akairo-san forcing Kiyoraka-san. Akairo-san's family owns a Chinese restaurant. Kiyoraka-san practices traditional dance, trained by her parents. She loves green tea and classical music. As for me? Well...I love chocolates, roses, music, sports. Period. At least there were no glomping cat lovers to deal with…for the moment. Soon, class started.

_After school_  
After exiting the school(and talking our way through a mob of people), I said goodbye to the four girls— who had some important things to do except me—and walked home alone.

I was walking down the sidewalk, humming 'Karakuri Pierrot' when suddenly, the hedge of bushes next to me shifted slightly, stopping me in my tracks. The next moment, I was tackled by a fox. _'A fox?'  
_I sat up slowly, staring at the fox. It had fair golden fur with light greenish color on the tip of its tail and light greenish lining behind its ears. It had dark brownish paws. It had navy blue for its right eye, and hazel for his left. I guessed it's heterochromia. Around its neck it wore a red collar. Hanging from the collar was a silver bell with a golden mark resembling fairy wings on the front of the bell. Summing it all up, this creature was just fascinating.  
_  
_

Suddenly out of nowhere, a small humanlike-creature which was no bigger than a palm appeared in tiny sparkling lights. It-she had her sky bluish hair tied into two short pigtails and matching sky bluish eyes.  
"Busho, hurry, run before it catches up with us! And you too, human, should flee from this place." The little fairy said.  
Before I could respond, I heard a loud "Butsubu!" I lifted my head and saw….a truck flying towards us at high speed. Instinctively, I stood—carrying the fox and the fairy in my arms in the process—and leaped over to the side of the road. The fox then asked, "Why did you save us-sho? This has nothing to do with you –sho."  
I was slightly taken aback when it spoke, just slightly. I replied, "Even so, I just can't leave a fox and a fairy like you alone, you know." while I ran.  
"T-Thank you-sho. And the name's Busho-sho. And she is called Purity-sho." The fox—Busho said. Then it mumbled, "_But this is bad-sho, he can't transform-sho!_"  
Suddenly, there was an explosion behind me and I was sent flying. I rolled over and kept my balance. I stood in front of the fox and the fairy who had leaped from my arms, trying to protect them from the truck monster. '_I have to protect them!_'  
Just then, I saw something shiny dropped down from the sky and caught it. It was a pink bracelet with a silver pendant with black circles decorating the sides.  
"It's the Guardian Pendant! Quick, human! Hold it and say, 'Aegis! Pretty Cure Materialization!'" The fairy told me, standing on my shoulder.  
Without hesitation, I clutched the item tightly and said, "Aegis! Pretty Cure Materialization!"  
When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by a silver light. The bracelet tied itself around my left wrist. Then, my uniform was replaced my another clothing. When the light finally retreated, I stroked a pose instinctively and said, "The balance of darkness and light, Cure Equilibrium!"

I noticed that my hair was slightly longer and tied into a small ponytail by a black band. There was a silver plate with black lining covering my right shoulder. On my left shoulder was a cloth with pink lining strapped down vertically beneath another clothing which was secured by the silver plate. Both of the clothing were white in color. I wore a pink belt with the Yin and Yang(1) symbol attached to the middle of the belt. Covering my arms were two silver gauntlets with small, round, pink pendants attached to the black linings. The gauntlet on my left arm reached just beneath my elbow, while the gauntlet on my right hand was shorter, secured by a solid, golden band. Beneath the two gauntlets I wore clean white bandages. A clothing which resembled a cape was covering the back of my lower body, held back by the belt. I wore long-sleeved brown trousers with solid, silver bands holding the sleeves back just above my feet. For leggings I wore white boots with a pink circle lining on the front and black linings on the sides of the boots. Dangling from the pink belt were two trinkets—one was a Yin symbol and the other, a pink heart pendant. I also noticed that my voice was pitched higher than usual, and I felt another presence inside of me. "There's no time to waste, Equilibrium!" The fairy's voice echoed.

"Right!" I replied. Then, I leaped forward and kicked the truck monster, sending it flying backwards. "Use your powers to defeat it while it is stunned!" The fairy said.  
I held out my left hand. Forming my right palm into a fist beside me, I shouted, "Pretty Cure, Shadow Arrows!"  
Multiple black arrows which seemed like shadows shot out from my left palm and struck the monster.  
"Butsubuuu!" It roared, disappearing into tiny white shards.  
I undid my transformation and the fairy appeared next to me once more. The fox was just standing there in awe. "Y-You did it-sho… B-But how-sho?"  
"I don't know, either. Human, could you possibly be a girl?" The fairy asked me.  
"U-Urgh…" Before I could respond, Everything went black.

~Chapter 1 End~

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(1)A symbol which has a white comma with a black dot(Yang) in the middle on the left side, and an upside down black comma with a white dot in the middle(Yin) on the right side. For more information, search google.

Mod: Ah… sorry for the cliffhanger. So how was it? I hope I didn't bore you with this. I was having a stomachache while writing this chapter, by the way. And mosquitoes were flying around and I just can't catch those little pests!  
Myst: She keeps stopping once in awhile to restrain the pain, and her expression was just so hilari-mmhmhfn! *gasp* Mod-san! *pouts*  
Mod: Anyway, in this story, Mystic still hasn't open up to the others…yet. Don't worry, he will eventually as the story progresses….I hope. I know, you readers have a lot of questions such as, 'How can a boy become a Pretty Cure?!' or 'Why did 'everything went black'?' The former will be revealed as the story progresses. The latter will be revealed in the next chapter. The cover for this story will be posted after I finished drawing.(I'm slow at drawing)  
Mystic: …If you readers do not like male characters in a Pretty Cure fanfic, why are you reading this anyway?(I'm not really a male or a female anyway)  
Aoi: Kokune-san! Manners!  
Riko: Yeah! Listen to Aoi! You wouldn't want to anger the readers with your rudeness, do you?  
Mystic: …Sorry.  
Yomi: *awkward smile* A-Also, Mod-san would be slow on uploading chapters because of school and tuition. The teachers would also give exams on random times. She is allowed to use the laptop during the weekends only.  
Sho: Or she's just lazy and busy with reading fanfics, watching anime and listening to vocaloid music.  
Mod: *sweardrops* You don't have to be so cruel, Busho.  
Sho : But it's true, auntie.  
Mod: …I'm still in middle school, you know. Anyway, forgive me if I'm too slow, okay? Reviews, please? *puppy eyes*  
Mystic: *facepalm* So, we'll see you, in the next chapter.  
All: Bai bai!


	2. Chapter 2

Mod: Uh, hi. How long has it been? Two weeks? I'm so sorry, guys. I'd been busy during this two weeks(Choir practice, creating a presentation, drama, homework, exams, drawing a cover and the characters etc…) Also, I'm a slow writer, 'cause I keep on changing my plots! Sometimes I hope I can stand still in one place…  
Zankoku: Not to mention she had been lazy and reading fanfics and listening to Jin's songs.  
Kiru: Slacker.  
Mod: S-Shut up!  
Karma: But it is true, isn't it? (Others: *Nod**Nod*)  
Mod: …Mariana?  
Mariana: …  
Mod: Urgh…anyway, thank you very much for the reviews! I'm so happy!*dances*Disclaimer's on the first chapter! And forgive me for the bad storyline and naming sense. Oh, and did I mention that Busho-chan is small?

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Reviews  
Admirer: Arigatou! I'll try to improve. Here's the second chapter!  
William: Hehe, thank you, but not really. Btw, would you happen to be…big brother William Lor? :D  
Muhammad Izzat Awwal: E-Ehh? (Mystic: *stabbed*)Well, I'm not sure if it's considered a crossdresing Pretty Cure or not but I actually have a plot to that...(if you really want to know, go check out my profile. But beware of HUGE spoilers alert!)

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Chapter 2: Destiny, Cherish and a New Villain

~Normal P.O.V~  
_"Mmrgh… W-Where am I…?" Mystic said.  
He stood up and looked around. The whole place was shrouded white. He felt like he was standing on air.  
Then suddenly he was standing in a field full of green grass. The field was peaceful and it somehow gave him a warm feeling. He saw a man and a woman, but their faces were blurry. Then he saw a little boy and a little girl, laughing and running around the field together, holding hands.  
"That's…me, and… Myst?"  
Just then, the memory disappeared, and everything was shrouded white again. This time, two figures were standing in front of Mystic—the man and the woman from the memory.  
"Mystic…Mystic…" Echoed a voice.  
"Who…Who are you? How do you know my name?" Mystic said to the figures.  
They slowly walked away.  
"W-Wait!" Mystic shouted, running after them, but to no avail. They gradually faded from his sight.  
"Wait! Wait!"_

"WAIT!"_  
_"Sho!" Busho jumped up, and fell, lying face-front on the ground.  
"…A dream?" Mystic said, collecting his thoughts.  
Busho then stood up and said,"You finally woken up-sho! I was so worried! It's been half an hour-sho!"  
"Huh? A-Ah." Mystic replied, unsure of what to say. _'Is this a dream too…?'  
_

"Um, hey," Mystic said. "Bite me, will you?"  
"Huh? If you say so…" Busho then sank his sharp teeth into his hand.  
"Ngah!"  
"Ah! Sorry-sho! Did I bite too hard?"  
"No, I'm fine." _'It's real after all. At least I'm not going mad or anything.'  
_"Why did you want me to bite you-sho?"  
"Nah, just want you to wake me up a little." Mystic lied.  
"Well, okay-sho! Then again, my name is Busho-sho! And the fairy you met is called Purity-sho! What's your name?" Busho said, smiling.  
"Kokune Mystic." Mystic replied. After a pause, he asked, "Where's the fairy?"  
"Please call her Purity-sho. She returned to the Fairy Bell-sho." Busho said while pointing a paw at the bell hanging from his neck, slightly annoyed that he had not called the fairy by her name.

"Speaking of which, care to explain a little…?" Mystic pointed at Busho, then the bracelet on his wrist.  
Busho blinked. Then he said, "Oh yeah! Hehe, sorry, I kinda forgot-sho. But before that, I want to ask you: Are you a girl-sho?"  
"…No, why? Do I look like a girl?" Mystic said hesitantly.  
"No…well, yes, a little."  
"I see…"

Just then, Busho's stomach growled. He tilted his head, chuckling awkwardly.  
Mystic sighed. He took out a bar of chocolate and handed it to him. "Here. It's my leftover food during lunch break at school."  
"Really? You're giving it to me? Thank you-sho!" Busho exclaimed. He grabbed the bar of chocolate and bit off a huge chunk. Mystic watched the fox silently as he ate. Then suddenly, the fox was covered in a pale smoke, sending Mystic falling backwards and onto the ground. He looked up, wide-eyed at a boy with fair golden hair and light greenish shades, navy blue right eye and hazel left eye, who was no older than an eleven-year-old. The boy returned the gaze with questioning eyes. Then he widened his eyes in understanding.  
"Oh! I forgot to tell you, I can become a human. Call me Mitsubaki Sho in this form, will you?"  
"A-Ah. Okay. You surprised me a little." Mystic replied, sitting up.

The heterochromatic boy—Sho, quickly gobbled down the last piece of chocolate. Then he started to explain. "You see, Mystic. I come from a world called the Land of Aegis, along with the fairies—Purity, Justice, Link, Union and Wisdom. We were sent to this world by the Queen in order to look for the legendary warriors—Pretty Cure, because our world is attacked by the Black Realm. They want to get the Pure Jewels for reasons we don't know." His expression saddened.  
"The Pure Jewels are very important, as they had helped to maintain the equilibrium of darkness and light for trillions of years, way before the birth of your world. Without light, there would be no Sun or heat. Living creatures of our world will wither and fall, along with yours. Without darkness, there would be no nighttime. We will become restless. The rivers and oceans will be dried up by the scorching Sun. Plants will die, and the worlds we live in will be turn into a living hell. I hold three of the Pure Jewels, which guards the darkness of the world, assigned to me by the Queen. As for the light Pure Jewels, the person which the Queen had entrusted to is currently unknown." He looked at Mystic, whose right eye was twitching. He scratched the back of his head apologetically.  
"Ahaha, sorry, I'll stop the act. Anyway, we have to find the Pretty Cures so as to prevent the people from the Dark Realm to get their hands on the Pure Jewels, or else your world and our world will be doomed. So please, will you fight for us? I won't force you into this if you don't want to."

Mystic thought for awhile. "…All right. I'll help you. B-But don't get the wrong idea. It's just because I had nothing else to do, okay?" He crossed his arms and looked away.  
Sho laughed. "Okay! Thank you very much! Let's work hard together from now on!"He said. Then he put one finger under his chin.  
"By the way, only girls with pure and kind hearts can become Pretty Cures. So if you're a boy, why can you become a Pretty Cure?"He questioned.  
If Sho had been looking at Mystic, he would have seen him flinch for a split second, but he was too busy pondering.

"Really? I don't really know anything about this…" Mystic replied.  
"Hm… Oh well! Let's not worry about this. You probably fainted from fatigue earlier, since it's your first fight and all. That's rare among first timers but don't worry! You'll get used to it!" Sho ended the explanation with a bright smile.  
"Come on, I'll take you to my house. It's getting late. My parents will be worried."  
Sho's eyes sparkled. "Really? I get to be introduced to your family? Ya-"  
"With_ you_ in your fox form, hiding in my schoolbag." Mystic added.  
Sho pouted."Aw…I never get to be part of a family." He turned back into Busho and jumped into Mystic's bag.  
"Let's go."

Midway through the explanation, a teenage boy was walking on a field, in a place far from humans' reach. The sky was pitch black. The barks and leaves of the trees were pitch black. The grass in the field was pitch black. To put it simply, everything was pitch black, but looked strangely beautiful. The plants were healthy and strong, and the silence that plagued the place was a peaceful one.  
Soon, the boy reached a pitch black river. He continued walking, passing through an invisible barrier which is placed at the edge of the river. On the other side of the barrier was empty. Only the ground was covered in a grey mist.

The boy knelt down on the ground and said, "I have returned, Kaimetsu-sama."  
After awhile, a man whose face was covered in bandages appeared in front of the kneeling boy, his crimson eyes burning into the boy's figure. "State the result of your mission."  
"Hai, Kaimetsu-sama. I have failed to capture the guardian of the Pure Jewels. A Pretty Cure has been borned. I had been too confident and left Butsubu to its own free will. I am ready to receive any punishment you throw at me, which I deserved."  
The ruler of the Dark Realm—Kaimetsu, stared into the boy's eyes with such intensity which can burn a human to the deepest parts of his mind, but the boy was no human. "Rise, Kiru."  
The boy obeyed and stood up. The ruler continued, "I will not punish you. Go, acquire the Pure Jewels again. I trust you to be more careful this time."  
"Hai, Kaimetsu-sama." The boy—Kiru, bowed and walked away.

Kaimetsu stood still in silence. After a few moments, he said, "I_ will_ get my revenge on you, Queen of Aegis." Then, he disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Kiru arrived at a forest. He leaped onto a tree, then another, and another. All of a sudden, he was tackled from a tree to the ground by a little girl. "Onii-tan okaeri!" She exclaimed happily, still clinging onto Kiru.  
"A-Ah, tadaima, tadaima. Can you please let go of me now, Karma?" He replied _almost _rudely.

Just then, a woman approached them. Karma looked up and smiled, letting go of Kiru. "Mari-san!"  
Mariana looked at Karma and gave a slight smile, then turned her gaze at Kiru. "I heard you failed your first mission."  
Kiru growled at her. A voice echoed, "It was just catching a puny little fox and you still failed? You're a shame to Kaimetsu-sama."  
Then, a man dropped down from the sky and landed safely on the ground beside Mariana. He smirked at Kiru.  
Mariana punched him hard in the arm.

"Ow! What'd you do that for, Mariana!?" He growled. Now it's Kiru's turn to smirk.  
"Do not speak ill of your companions, Zankoku. He had to face off against a Pretty Cure." She informed him.  
"Bah! He's just so overconfident to even let his monster fight alone that I can't even resist pointing it out!" Zankoku said, smirking back at Kiru. "He's not even stronger than _me_!"  
"Onii-tan is not weak!" Karma shouted angrily at him.

Kiru's left eye twitched. He clutched his fists and said, "Hmph. I won't be careless next time, and I prove it to you, Mariana, Zankoku, Karma, and Kaimetsu-sama!"

_The next day_  
Mystic was in his room, wearing his school uniform. He was currently dealing with a problem.  
"Mou, no fair! I want to follow you to school-sho! Why can't I-sho!?" Busho complained, for the umpteenth time to Mystic, who had two veins on his head.  
"I want to go with you!"  
A third vein appeared. Then he snapped.  
"All right, all right! I'll let you follow so BE QUIET!" He shouted at Busho.

"Mystic? Is everything all right?" A female voice asked.  
"Everything's all right, mom! Just practicing my lines for a drama show at school!" Mystic replied.  
"…If you want to practice your lines, please don't shout! Your father is currently training his students in the dojo and you'll interrupt him! And don't forget about school, okay?" His mother reminded him.  
"Okay, sorry mom." He said. Then, he put Busho into his schoolbag and went out of the gates.

"I'm off, mom. Tell dad I said bye." Mystic said and started walking towards the school.

~Myst's P.O.V~  
"I'm off, mom! Dad!" I shouted and ran out of the house. I was going to meet Yomi, Mystic, Aoi and Riko halfway to school. After walking for a few minutes, I saw Mystic, walking with Yomi. They were chatting together casually. Hehe, one step towards friendship for them!

"Good morning, Mi-kun, Yomi-chan!" I said, walking beside Yomi.  
"Myst-chan, good morning." Yomi greeted.  
"Morning." Mystic said. I smiled at him. He raised his eyebrow at me. I laughed along with Yomi and we started talking about random things. Not long after, Riko and Aoi caught up. Riko latched herself on Mystic –attacking his weak spot—and said, "Good morning, everyone!" with a cheeky smile plastered on her face.  
Aoi giggled at her friend's antics. "Good morning, Shirone-san, Kokune-san, Homura-san."  
Yomi and I said our greetings. Mystic started to panic. "G-Good morning, Akairo-san, Kiyoraka-san. C-Can you please let go of me now?" He stammered. That's when I got an idea.  
"Aw, Riko-chan here is showing her friendship towards you. You should at least accept it!" I said it in the most innocent way I could, and grabbed on his arm.

His reaction was extremely priceless. He screamed, "Nyaa!" like a cat would. Then he wriggled out of our grips and ran full speed to school, leaving a trail of dust behind him. Did I mention that he was the fastest runner in elementary school?  
We laughed at his reaction. Then Riko said, "That's unexpected, coming from him. 'Nyaa!' He said. Hahaha!" Yomi blushed a little. I wonder if she had a fever?  
"Heheh, Mystic might look cool on the outside, but he's actually a kind person. He opens up more towards his friends, just like before! Oh, and he's really bad at cooking." I explained. A few chuckles from the last sentence.  
"As the saying goes, 'you can't judge a book by its' cover', ne?" Aoi said.  
Then suddenly, Yomi asked, "Um…I'm sorry for asking but I was wondering, why do you and Mystic look alike? With the same hairstyle and scar."  
Everyone looked at me with interested expressions.  
"Eh? Really? I don't know about this…" I scratched my cheek awkwardly. They all sweatdropped. I wonder what's wrong with them.  
Then, we entered the school grounds.

~Mystic's P.O.V~  
I sprinted into the school building as fast as I could. Oh, how I _hate_ being glomped! It's just so stuffy and embarrassing…  
Then suddenly, I felt some movements in my bag. Whoops. I had completely forgotten about him.  
I hided in a corner and opened my bag, letting Busho's head pop out. He smirked at me and whispered, "_So you're afraid of being hugged, eh?"_  
_"Shut up, fox, or do you want to end up in the toilet bowl!"_ I replied sharply.  
He flinched and said, "_Name's Busho-sho!"_ before retreating back into my bag. I quickly closed it and went to my classroom. Lessons started shortly after the four girls entered the class. I didn't pay attention to the teacher, though. I was thinking about the dream I had the day before. Who were the people in the dream? Why were Myst and I in the dream? Was it some sort of sign? Soon, the bell rang. It was lunch break. I slipped some food into my bag for Busho and told him to stay in the bag.

Kiyoraka-san suggested that we should have our lunch on the roof. "The air outdoors is fresher than indoors" was the reason. We agreed with her suggestion. And which golden-eyed brunette suggested eating together again?  
Myst's lunch was—as usual—rice balls. Doesn't she get sick of the same food every day? Even I brought different types of chocolate to school each day. Homura-san brought a typical bento box. Kiyoraka-san brought a makunouchi bento while Akairo-san brought a chukka bento. As expected from a family who owns a Chinese restaurant. As for me, I brought a bar of chocolates. My love for chocolates would never waver.  
All of a sudden, Homura-san suggested that we should share our food with each other. I tried defending my chocolate, but they somehow managed to convinced me to share it. Ahh…

We ate our lunches and chatted about elementary school. Suddenly, a huge wind blew towards us and the sky was covered in dark clouds. Everyone—except me—were confused.  
"Huh?"

Without warning, a black energy blasted down on us. We were sent flying. Myst, Homura-san and I were still conscious, but Akairo-san and Kiyoraka-san had passed out. We ran towards them.  
"Riko! Aoi! Wake up! Please!"

The smoke from the explosion cleared. We saw an older teenage boy with pointy ears, black hair and brown eyes with black pupils. I clenched my fists and said calmly. "Are you the one who's controlling the monster the day before? If so, why did you get them involved in this? They have nothing to do with this."  
Busho, who was standing beside me said, "He is one of the people in the Black realm-sho!" He must've sensed it and ran here.  
I looked at the black-haired boy with a cold expression, ignoring the wide-eyed Myst and Homura-san, who were supporting the unconscious two.  
The boy returned my gaze with the same expression. "Cure Equilibrium…is it? I won't hold back now!" He then launched himself at me.  
I instantly pushed the girls and Busho out of the way and blocked his punch. I kicked his stomach, but he dodged it and sent a gale towards me. I was sent flying and hit the wall.  
"…Is that all you can do, Cure Equilibrium?"  
As I was trying to stand up, Purity appeared next to me. "Mystic, transform, quick!"  
"A-Ah!" I said. I slammed my hand on the Guardian Pendant and shouted, "Aegis! Pretty Cure Materialization!"  
"The balance of darkness and light, Cure Equilibrium!"  
'_Ikuyo, Cure Equilibrium!'_ Purity said.  
"Hmph. Arise, Butsubu!" The boy raised his hands. The whole ground shook. The creature which I fought yesterday formed behind him and possessed the lightning rod on the roof. It became a giant rod with red eyes which produces electricity. "Butsubu!"  
Butsubu, its master and I ran towards each other and met in the middle, initiating a fight.

~Normal P.O.V~  
Myst and Yomi were both shocked and confused. Questions were forming around in their heads. _'Who's the boy who dare hurt Riko and Aoi? How did he do that? Why can the fox with unusual eye colours talk? Am I dreaming all of this?'_ Both of them exchanged glances. They were in a similar state of shock as the other. Suddenly, they were pushed away. Myst gripped onto Riko while Yomi caught Aoi so as to prevent them from falling. Then they saw Mystic who got slammed into the wall.  
"Mi-kun/Kokune-kun!" They tried to run to his side, but suddenly Busho blocked their path and said, "No, you'll only burden him-sho. Will you trust in your friend-sho?"He smiled. The bell around his neck shone for a second.  
"But…!" Myst started, but he shook his head.  
She looked towards Mystic and saw a fairy next to him. She was saying something to him. They saw Mystic nodded, slammed his palm on the bracelet around his left wrist and shouted, "Aegis! Pretty Cure Materialization!"  
Then he was shrouded in a bright light. Myst, Yomi and the older boy closed their eyes from dazzling beam._ 'What is that?'_  
When the light subsided, they saw Mystic wearing his Pretty Cure outfit. He stroked a pose and said, "The balance of darkness and light, Cure Equilibrium!"  
The girls looked at each other. They were equally confused. Then Busho suddenly said, "Girls, we should go somewhere safe-sho! It's getting dangerous from here onwards-sho." He was around the corner of the wall leading to the stairs, gesturing to them. Myst and Yomi hurriedly carried Riko and Aoi over to him.

The three of them watched Equilibrium as he fought the older boy and Butsubu, in the form of a lightning rod. The boy sent a leg flying towards Equilibrium's head. He ducked and tried to trip the older boy, but he dodged by jumping and kicked Equilibrium's chin, sending him stumbling backwards. The giant rod then shot out an electrical blast towards him. Equilibrium regained his balance and jumped out of the way. Then, he leaped forwards and punched the monster, but it grabbed him by his leg and threw him upwards. He did a back flip and tried to dive-kick the monster. But he did not notice the movement behind him.  
"Mi-kun/Kokune-kun, look out!" Yomi and Myst shouted simultaneously.  
"Huh?" Equilibrium turned his head around, but he was too late to block the sudden attack. The boy punched Equilibrium's chest, sending him flying towards the ground. The monster then shocked him with electricity, paralyzing him. Equilibrium cried out in agony. It was too much for Myst to take in.

"Mi-kun, no!" She tried to reach him, but Busho pulled at her uniform. "Let me go!"  
"Human girl, please, don't go! It's dangerous-sho!" He said.  
"But he's in danger! I have to help him!" She yelled. Myst looked towards Yomi. She had tears in her eyes. She couldn't stand it either.  
"I know, I feel the same as you-sho! But I promised him to protect you guys if I ever meet you-sho! So please don't put yourselves into danger-sho. You are not as strong as a Pretty Cure in your current state-sho!"  
"But…!"

They turned their heads towards Equilibrium's direction, and saw the boy stepping on his hand.  
Myst felt something snap inside of her.  
She clutched her fists and shouted at the fox. "I want to help him! No, I must help him! I don't want to let my friends get hurt. I don't ever want to see them suffer!"  
"Me neither! I can't just stand by the sidelines and watch as they go through hardships! I can't bear the sight of it!" Yomi suddenly shouted after her.

Busho was taken aback by their determination. Then he felt two of the seals broken. Two Guardian Pendants—a white one with golden circles decorating the sides and a green one with teal circles decorating the sides—fell from the sky and into Myst and Yomi's palms each. Then he felt the Fairy Bell shine again. Two fairies—a male fairy with spiky blonde hair and yellow eyes, and a female fairy with pink hair and eyes—appeared in front of the girls.  
The male fairy approached Myst and said, "Well said, little girl! You have the courage to fight for your friends and become a Pretty Cure! The name's Justice, and I'll be your guardian fairy!"  
The female fairy said to Yomi, "You are a kind person. You cherish your friends and desire to aide them in their worst times. You will become a great person in the future. I will be your guardian fairy. My name is Link, at your service."  
The girls wiped off their tears and smiled at the fairies. Then they put on determined expressions.  
Busho smiled inwardly and took a step backwards. "Now go and help Equilibrium, okay-sho? We can leave the explanations for later-sho." He told them.

They nodded at Busho and slammed their palms on their pendants. "Aegis! Pretty Cure Materialization!"  
They were surrounded by a dazzling light. Their Guardian Pendants tied itself around their wrists. Their guardian fairies merged with them. Then, their uniforms were replaced by different clothes.  
Myst's hair was tied by a white hairband. Half of her bangs were pinned to the side by two pins with yellow hearts on them. A golden plate with white lining was covering her left shoulder. She wore a white sleeveless shirt with yellow linings. A yellow ribbon was attached to her chest. She wore arm warmers on her arms. She wore a pink belt with the Yin and Yang symbol attached to the middle. She wore a white skirt with yellow trimmings. Underneath the skirt she wore brown shorts. Leg warmers covered her legs. A rectangular golden jewel was attached to the ends of the leg warmers. She wore white shoes with yellow linings behind them. A yellow heart-shaped trinket and a Yang trinket was dangling from her belt.  
Yomi's hair had grown a few times longer than before, her spade-shaped hairbands were replaced by white ribbons. The ends of her twin tails were tied by pink ribbons with emerald hearts attached to them. She wore a sleeveless light greenish shirt with greenish linings and feathery white trimmings covering her shoulders. At the hem of the shirt were greenish frills. An emerald-colored ribbon was attached to her chest. She wore a pink belt with a green and teal-colored heart on the middle. She wore a light greenish skirt with white lining. She wore brown shorts underneath the skirt. She also had another pair of tight black shorts underneath the loose brown shorts. Long white socks covered her legs. She had a pair of greenish boots. She had a emerald heart-shaped trinket and another one which was similar to the one on her belt.

The both of them stroked their poses and said their introductions.  
"The light of the future, Cure Destiny!"  
"Holding onto the treasured things, Cure Cherish!"

Meanwhile, the boy had lifted Equilibrium up by the shirt. "Where are the Pure Jewels?"  
Equilibrium looked at him with a blank expression. "What are your aims? Is there a reason for your kind to want the Pure Jewels?"  
The older boy growled at him. "You are testing my patience here. Where. Are. The. Pure. Jewels?"  
"I won't tell you."  
"Wha-" The boy was sent flying to the side, releasing Equilibrium in the process. He glared at the newcomers.  
"Myst? Homura-san?" Equilibrium stared up at the girls.  
"It's Destiny and Cherish in these forms! Are you okay, Equilibrium?" Destiny asked.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, you both." He said, standing up. "Now let's clean this up."  
They turned towards Butsubu.  
"Pretty Cure, Shadow Arrows!" Equilibrium exclaimed, multiple arrows of dark energy shot out of his extended palm.  
"Pretty Cure, Destiny Beam!" Destiny sent a fist forward, shooting out a beam of light.  
Cherish jumped into the air. A green heart formed behind her. She made a heart shape with her hands and said, "Pretty Cure, Love Utopia!" Light greenish hearts were shot out.  
The three energies fused together. "Combined attack! Shadow Destiny Utopia!"  
"Butsubu!" The monster returned to its original form and disappeared.  
The boy frowned. "Tch! The name's Kiru, remember that! For I will come back for the Pure Jewels another time." He said and vanished.  
They undid their transformations and the sky returned to normal. Busho made a mad dash down the stairs while Mystic did a quick explanation as they waited for Aoi and Riko to wake up. Myst and Yomi were in awe after the whole story.

"To think that something like this even exist…This is so cool! We're legendary warriors!" Myst squealed.  
"It is truly surprising, but interesting at the same time!" Yomi exclaimed.  
Just then, Riko and Aoi woke up.  
"H-Huh? What happened?"  
"During our conversation, you said something to Mi-kun which made him angry and he accidentally hit the both of you too hard, causing you to faint." Myst lied through her teeth, but they still did not look convinced.  
"Really? You haven't been hiding anything from us, are you?" Aoi said. A vein popped up on Mystic's head. He raised his lunchbox, eyes twitching while he forced a smiled and said, "Oh? You don't believe us? Wanna try me again?"  
Aoi was unfazed, but this sent shivers down Riko's spine. She grabbed Aoi's arm and said, "A-Aoi, let's just forget about it. T-They seem to be telling the truth."  
Aoi looked at her best friend. Then she replied, "Alright."  
Yomi sweatdropped at the scene. _'Kokune-kun and Myst-chan sure know how to act natural when lying…'_

Just then, the bell rang.  
"Shoot, we haven't even finished our meal yet!" Riko exclaimed.  
"Well, there's no choice. Let's just get back to class quickly." Mystic replied calmly.  
They closed their bentos and went back to class, continuing the second half of the school day.

~Chapter 2 End~

* * *

Mod: Uhh…whoops. A bit longer than the first chapter but nevermind! Makes it up for the two weeks, eh? It's a good thing I finally finished writing this chapter. I'm so tired. *Yawns*(It's 2.28 AM now) Anyway! I apologize if there is any mistakes. I'm just no good at describing things. Also, sorry if I bore you readers with the unnecessary parts. One more thing, I've only watched Futari Wa and Max Heart and the All Stars movies, other than that, nope, I haven't watched yet. Gotta go to bed now! Mom's shouting at me. Bye guys!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Unity, Intelligence, a Pastry Shop Disaster

~Kiru's P.O.V~  
"You have failed again, Kiru." Kaimetsu-sama said sternly as I remained silent. I could feel that Kaimetsu-sama was getting angry. Then, I decided to speak up.  
"My apologies, Kaimetsu-sama. The second and the third Legendary Warriors had appeared, and I was no match for their combined powers."

Silence loomed over the both of us. After a few seconds, Kaimetsu-sama said, "In that case, I shall grant you with a new power. Master it, and they will stand no chance against you."  
A giant cyclone engulfed me for a moment and soon disappeared. I felt something completely new unlocked inside of me.  
"My deepest gratitude, Kaimetsu-sama." I thanked sincerely.  
"I await good news. Now, dismissed."  
"Hai, Kaimetsu-sama." I bowed and walked away, preparing for my next encounter with the Pretty Cures.

_4.00 a.m._  
~Mystic's P.O.V~  
Today was a weekend, so instead of waking up this early to prepare for school, I quietly snuck into the dojo to do some extra training, as I needed to improve my fighting skills, seeing how weak I was after the fight with Kiru. And speaking of which, it had already been a week since the first encounter with him, and things had been calm so far, but I had a feeling not for long. Besides, we still hadn't found the last two Pretty Cures yet.

My thoughts were cut off by two approaching presences. I stopped my training as they came into view.  
"What are you doing here so early in the morning-sho…? Don't you need to prepare for school-sho?" Busho asked sleepily. Purity was floating next to him. A few days ago, all of us had decided that we should always stick with our Guardian Fairies so as we could transform whenever we wish when there was trouble. Justice and Link were currently with Myst and Yomi.

"I'm training. And today's a weekend, so there is no school." I paused for awhile. Then I said, "Next time, don't just walk around the house as you wish, fox. I'm afraid I'll have to consider the amount of force I'll need to avoid you being sent to a zoo if you do that…or I might just hand you over. _If _you get found out. Also, I need to ask you some questions."

"It's 'Busho'-sho! And of course you can ask us anything Pretty Cure related-sho!" They smiled.  
"Well, it's about these bracelets. Why are they just falling from the sky at the right timing? I mean, what if they end up falling into another person's hands?" I asked, pointing at the black Guardian Pendant.

"Ah, the Guardian Pendants only respond to the chosen ones-sho!" He said, obviously not understanding my question. Just then, Purity spoke up for the first time.  
"If you're worrying about that, human, there is no need. The Guardian Pendants were created by the previous Kings and Queens of the Land of Aegis. A special shrine was made to guard the Guardian Pendants and at the same time, sealing them off. But now, a huge threat is coming towards our homeland, weakening the seals slightly. The 'chosen ones' which Busho had said, are the children who are the purest among all of the human kind, and there are a lot more of them out there, aside from the three of you. The Guardian Pendants each responds to a specific chosen one. When a person from our homeland and she are in danger, its seal completely brakes and it is sent to your world. Its link with its future owner is unbreakable, so it will reach her no matter what."  
I nodded understandingly. Then, she added, "As for you, human, you are unique from all the others. Your black Guardian Pendant is infused with _both_ darkness and light element, unlike the others, which is light-based element. It responds to a child with a good heart, but at the same time a dark personality, such as yourself, human."

I stayed silent for awhile, staring at the bracelet. Just who am I, really?  
Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. "Wait, you said that there's more than five chosen ones, right? By five, I mean the three of us and the yet-to-be-found two others. Does it mean that there are other Pretty Cures aside from us?" I asked. This time, Busho responded.  
"Precisely-sho! Each Pretty Cure team protects a particular world and your world-sho. But I don't think they call them the 'chosen ones'-sho. So far, there are 10 Pretty Cure teams which we currently knew of, excluding your team, but we have a feeling that there's definitely more than that-sho!"

Suddenly, we heard footsteps approaching the dojo. Thinking fast, I quickly hid Busho and Purity in the closet where we kept the training weapons just as my father came in.  
"Good morning, father."  
"Good morning, Mystic. How long have you been here? It's 6.31 a.m now. Your mother has prepared breakfast for you." He said in a stern voice.  
"Yes, father. Let me just rearrange the closet before going."  
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, don't miss it. Also, your friend Myst phoned just now. She said something about having you hang out her and her friends. You should get prepared after breakfast." He stated simply and walked away. He had always been like this since the beginning—a cold and strict personality. Sometimes I wondered if he really considered me as his son. My mother said that he didn't show it but he cared about me deeply, but I had my doubts.  
I sighed quietly and opened the closet, letting Busho and Purity out and took them to my room.

After having breakfast, I took some food with me and went upstairs. I gave the food to Busho and Purity, then I started changing. I chose to wear a simple black hoodie with a blue long-sleeved shirt underneath, paired with a pair of white pants with brown linings at the hems. When I was about to walk out, I noticed a crescent-shaped necklace on my desk. I took it and stared at the necklace. Suddenly, a flood of memories came through my mind.

~FLASHBACK~  
_A boy and a girl were in a vast library. They were flipping through a book together when the doors opened gently. A man seemingly in his mid twenties walked towards them.  
"Are you feeling better now, Mystic?" He asked while smiling gently.  
"Yeah, I'm fine now." The boy replied, not looking up from the book.  
"That's great. Oh, by the way, there is something I-no, we want to give you both." The man said and held up a holy cross necklace and a black crescent-shaped necklace. Light and dark energy seeped out each of the necklaces respectively. The two brunettes raised their heads, interested.  
The man handed the boy the crescent necklace and the girl, the holy cross. "These necklaces are very important, so do not lose them under any circumstances, alright?" He said.  
The brunettes stared at their necklaces curiously, and smiled. "Hai! Thank you, father!"_

~FLASHBACK END~

Wait, 'father'? What father? Where did this scene come from? I didn't recognize it! And Myst and I were not even siblings! Wait, now that I thought about it, it must be from before I came into this family. Yeah, it must be that!Just then, I heard the doorbell rang. _'They're here.'_ I thought. Without thinking, I wore my necklace, grabbed my backpack, stuffed Busho and Purity into it and made my way towards the doors. I shouted one last goodbye and went out.

~Aoi's P.O.V~  
We were waiting outside Kokune-san's house when we heard him shouting goodbye and came out.  
"Mou, what took you so long, Mi-kun? It's been decades, y'know!" Shirone-san said, exaggerating. Kokune-san raised his eyebrow and replied, "Oh? But you haven't grown an inch though, shorty."  
Shirone-san scowled. "What's that you say!? Take it back!" "No I won't."  
We sweatdropped at the scene in front of us. After awhile, I decided to step in.  
"Kokune-san, Shirone-san, stop fighting this instance, you are making a ruckus here, and we haven't started walking yet." I said.  
They stopped bickering after awhile. Riko patted Kokune-san on the shoulder while Homura-san smiled at Myst. He looked at Riko suspiciously. She shrugged. "What? I'm just comforting you! What's the big deal?"  
Kokune-san gave a small "Hmph" and smiled. "Come on, let's go."  
I chuckled inwardly. We sure had became good friends in just a few days.

While walking, Homura-san suddenly said, "Um, Myst-chan, Kokune-kun, I wanted to say this for awhile but…your necklaces are pretty." She blushed and looked away.  
Riko then said, "Yeah, she's right. They're really pretty. How'd you guys bought them?" She grabbed Shirone-san's necklace and looked at it curiously. I looked at them. It's true. The necklaces looked as if…they were from another world.  
"Ah, this? I don't know. I already had this with me when I was found by mom and dad. Isn't that right, Mi-kun?" Shirone-san said. _'Found?'_

Before he could respond, Kokune-san's backpack moved. He frowned and muttered, "Excuse me." and ran away. Shirone-san and Homura-san then smiled reassuringly and said, "Wait here, we'll follow him." Then they ran towards the way he had gone.  
Riko and I just stood there, confused.  
"What's with them?" She said. I shook my head. She then grabbed my hand and led me into a shop nearby called Angel's Paradise and sat down, waiting for them.

~Normal P.O.V~  
Mystic stood in front of a wall and said, _"Didn't I tell you not to make a sound?"  
"But I'm hungry-sho! I need to eat too-sho!" _Busho said.  
_"Haven't you just eaten breakfast!?"_  
_"Buuut~"  
_  
Then Mystic heard a familiar voice calling him. "Mi-kuuun!"  
They saw Myst and Yomi running towards them.  
"What's the matter?" Justice asked.  
"Fox boy here is hungry." I replied monotonically.  
"Hey! What'd you say-sho!?" Mystic pushed his head back into the backpack. Myst and Yomi sweatdropped and shook their hands at the annoyed passersby.

Yomi thought for awhile and said, "I know! How about turning Busho into a human and let him join us?"  
"Ah, that's a great idea!" Myst exclaimed.  
"They could've thought of this earlier-sho." Busho muttered while Purity and Link tried to calm him down.  
They hid in an alley and Busho turned into a human in a puff of smoke. Then they went back to where Aoi and Riko were.

"Oi! Over here!" Riko shouted while waving at Mystic and co.  
"What took you guys so long? And who is that boy?" She pointed at Sho.  
"Sorry, I forgot something and ran back home to get it." Mystic lied.  
"A-And he is a friend of ours." Yomi continued.  
"I'm Mitsubaki Sho! Nice to meet you!" He said and shook Aoi and Riko's hand.  
"I'm Akairo Riko! And this is my friend, Kiyoraka Aoi! Nice to meet you too!" Aoi nodded and smiled. Sho blushed slightly.  
After the introductions, Myst said, "Oh, by the way, can we stop here for awhile?"  
"Of course we can, but why?" Aoi asked.  
"This brat here is hungry." Mystic replied. Sho's head snapped up.  
"N-No, It's fine! I-I don't want to waste your t-time!" He said, flustered.  
"That won't do, Mitsubaki-san. You need to ingest some nutrients or it will do you no good."Aoi said. She pulled him gently towards the table, making him blush even more.

Everyone sat down around a table and looked at the menus. When they had decided their meal, Mystic then called out. "Tsubasa-san!" A woman with dark bluish hair and similar colored eyes approached them. "Myst-chan! Shadow-kun! Nice to see you here!"  
Mystic frowned. "Please don't call me that. And we would like to order some food. A slice of black forest cake for me." He looked at the others.  
"Oh, oh! I want a slice of Angel's Blessing please!" Myst pointed at a strawberry cake covered with white chocolate curls. Everyone ordered their picks.  
"A plate of macaroons for me!"  
"I-I would like a rainbow fruit tart."  
"Just a simple blueberry bun, please."  
"I will not be having anything, thank you."

Tsubasa smiled and said, "Coming right up! Please wait for a moment."  
Just after she walked away, Yomi spoke. "You seem to know them well, Myst-chan, Kokune-kun. And why did she call you 'Shadow'?"  
Mystic waved his hand dismissively. "It's nothing important."  
The other brunette giggled and explained. "That's because in back in elementary school, he's the best basketball player in the whole school! He moves so fast you can barely follow him with your eyes! And thus the nickname 'Shadow'!"  
"'Shadow'!? Oh cool nickname, _Shadow_!" Riko said and smirked, along with Sho.  
"Hey!" Mystic exclaimed. Everyone laughed. He crossed his arms and huffed.  
When the laughing subsided, Aoi said, "Even so, it's quite amazing, Kokune-san. That proves that you work out a lot, right? Since you have martial arts and basketball."  
"No, actually, I already had this talent since the beginning."  
"I see…"

They looked around the shop for a moment. It was a fascinating sight. There were nothing but roses of various colors everywhere, like a rose garden. There was even a silver vase filled with roses placed in the middle of every table. The roses gave off a soothing fragrance, which made people forget all of their problems and drown in a sea of pure bliss.

The six friends were too entranced by the beauty of the scene that they did not notice a smiling Tsubasa approaching them. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"  
"Yes, it is. It's the most amazing sight I have ever seen." Yomi admitted, smiling.  
"Really? Well, I'm glad you like it." She replied while laying the food on the table.  
"Thank you." Aoi and Myst said. Tsubasa nodded.  
As everyone sat down, the older woman told a story. "You see, this pastry shop was built by my grandfather. When he was your age, he used to dream of a vast garden, as far as the eyes could see, with a small cottage in the middle of the sea of colors. All of his friends told him that it was impossible when he declared that he would make that dream come true, but he still held on to that hope. One day, his father decided to teach him the ways of pastry making. Since that day, he started to focus on that direction, the huge dream which he held on to completely forgotten. Only when he met his first love after graduation—my grandmother—and she told him about her love for roses, and a dream of living in a rose field, that he recalled his long-forgotten goal. At that time, he made a promise to my grandmother. As our family has been bakers for generations, he wanted to build a pastry shop, decorated with roses. For quite a long time the both of them worked hard to earn the right amount of money in various jobs. But as the time passed, my grandmother's body became weaker day by day. Finally, she collapsed, too ill to move. But they had collected enough money to fulfill their goals. My grandfather desperately rushed her to the hospital, but they were too late. My grandmother passed away at one winter night, when my father was still at the age of four. My grandfather grieved over her death, but he still kept that promise. He successfully built the pastry shop of their dreams, and named it 'Angel's Paradise', implying to my deceased grandmother, as 'Angel' represents her forever kind heart, and 'Paradise' represents the place where she could rest in peace. Since then, this pastry shop had never changed, up until the present time."

As she told the story, she wore a distant expression, filled with both sadness and happiness at the same time. Everyone was touched by the story. Tears were streaming down Yomi, Aoi and Sho's face. Mystic was staring at the ground, letting his long bangs covering his face. Under those bangs, one could see an expression full of regret and pain, seemingly in deep thought, which was rare, coming from the usually expressionless silver-eyed brunette.

"T-That…was…a _touching _story! Your grandfather must be a great person!" Riko exclaimed, wiping away the tears which were threatening to fall. Everyone, aside from Mystic who was still staring at the ground, nodded their heads.  
"Yes, he is the greatest person whom I admired the most." Tsubasa said, smiling warmly.  
After awhile, they felt as if something was missing. They turned to face Mystic, who was _still _hanging his head down.  
"Ne, Mi-kun, are you okay?" Mystic snapped out of his trance. He raised his head and faced them with a questioning look. They all had worried expressions plastered on their face. He shook his head violently and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't mind me." _'What's wrong with me just now?'_ He thought silently. He then returned back to his usual expression. Everyone sighed in relieve. The rest of the morning was spent on random topics and the amusement of a grinning Riko trying to feed macaroons to an annoyed Aoi.

Suddenly, the sky turned a darker shade of purple, and everyone—aside from the six friends—fainted right on the spot. "Tsubasa/-san!" They supported the older blunette just as she fainted, preventing her from falling down. Aoi and Riko looked confused, but the other four fell into defensive stances, looking around warily. "Akairo-san, Kiyoraka-san, you should take Tsubasa-san with you and find a safe place." Yomi said.  
Before either could respond, Sho suddenly exclaimed, "Right next to us!"  
Just as he said that, the rose wall next to them suddenly exploded. They jumped away on time, while Myst shielding Riko and Aoi from the blast, Yomi carrying Tsubasa along, Mystic protecting the mascot, and Sho turning into a fox to decrease the amount of injuries inflicted by the debrises.

"Wha-what's happening here!?" Riko exclaimed.  
"Tsubasa-san's pastry shop...!" Aoi exclaimed at the same time. They tried to get nearer, but Busho held them back. "Don't get closer-sho! It's dangerous-sho! Let the legendary warriors handle it-sho!" He said.  
"But-" Riko was cut off by a blinding light emitting from Mystic, Myst and Yomi. From the corner of their eyes, they could see three tiny figures floating next to the trio.

~Riko's P.O.V~  
I shielded my eyes from the blinding light engulfing the whole place. _'Just what the heck is happening here? First, everyone passed out all of a sudden. Then, an explosion occurred. After that, Sho turned into this tiny fox. _And_ after that, there was this weird light shining brighter than ever. Am I going crazy? Or I'm just dreaming!? I don't know already! Someone help me!'  
_  
After awhile, the light subsided. Mystic—looking as girly as ever-no, even worse than usual! And Myst and Yomi appeared, wearing way tooflashy clothes. They stroke poses and said,  
"The balance of darkness and light, Cure Equilibrium!"  
"The light of the future, Cure Destiny!"  
"Holding onto the treasured things, Cure Cherish!"  
…I was utterly shocked. How- What- Why- How did they do that!? Suddenly, a shadow sped towards them at high speed. They jumped separate ways just in time. The shadow stopped, revealing an older teenage boy with pointed ears. …Wait, what!? Pointed ears!? Was he an elf or something?

Pointy ears raised his hands and shouted, "Arise, Butsubu!"  
The whole ground shook and suddenly, a monster emerged from behind him and went into a red rose. "Butsubu!" It roared. The red rose turned hundreds of times bigger than its normal size. Its color became a darker shade of red, and two giant red eyes were also present on the flower.  
I was so shocked that I didn't feel the pressure when my childhood friend held my hands even tighter than ever.

Mystic was faced off against pointy ears. He sent a rain of punches and kicks which looked like flashing shadows to me towards pointy ears, but he dodged them with ease.  
"Why do you always harm innocent people when the ones you're after is us? Why did you destroy Tsubasa-san's pastry shop which she cherished dearly?" Mystic said between punches and kicks, but the other gave no response.  
After repeating the same movements for some time, pointy ears finally moved and punched him in the abdomen, making him spit out blood. "Wh…at?" Was what I heard him said with a strained voice. I could only watch in horror as the older boy kicked him towards and through the other side of the building. Unable to watch anymore than that, I turned my gaze to Myst and Yomi's side. They weren't any better than him, either. They punched, kicked and threw the monster continuously, but to no avail. The monster's petals and stems regenerated repeatedly. Then, it used its long tentacle-like thorns to wrap them up and flung them towards Mystic, crashing them all deeper into the debris once again.

As Aoi's shivering hands tighten around mine even more, only then I regained my senses. This was the first time I'd seen her in this state, crying, trembling. She used to be more calmer, graceful… Eh? I touched my cheeks. They were wet with my tears. My hands were trembling too. I turned to look at them once more. Mystic helped Myst and Yomi to stand up. They got into fighting stances, not willing to give up. Just when they were about to lunge at each other…

"**STOP!**" Aoi suddenly yelled out, stopping everyone in their tracks.  
She released my hands, broke through the fox's restraints and ran in between the ones fighting.  
"Please, stop this. It isn't right to do this. Tsubasa-san's grandparents put all their feelings into building this pastry shop, and you destroyed it like it was just a plaything to you. You've even risked the lives of many innocent people and paid no mind to them! Why must you do this!? It's not right at all, and it's not even amusing to do this…"

Pointy ears looked like he was restraining the urge to scream. Suddenly, I felt a sense of déjà vu washed over me. Trusting my instincts, I quickly ran towards the blackish haired teenager, catching the fox off guard in the process. Just as he raised his hand, forming a huge turbulent, I grabbed onto his arm on time, shocking everyone who hadn't seen me coming.  
Pointy ears tried to pull his arm free, but I kept a death grip, pouring all of the extra strength from my anger into that hand which was holding him back.

As I restrained him, I shouted, "Stop this worthless actions! Just what are your objectives, hurting uninvolved people in the process without hesitation! Heck, it's not even amusing or fun!"  
Just as that came out of my mouth, he snapped. He turned around and grabbed my wrists, pulling me near him, and shouted back, "Don't keep on blabbering like you know **everything **about me! You know nothing, **nothing **at all about me, or Kaimetsu-sama. We've suffered greatly because of the Land of Aegis and your pathetic world! Innocent, you say? Haven't you seen them humans, abusing, betraying, making fun of their own kind!? Don't tell me you haven't been through any of these before, or even done this to your own kind **before**!"  
I stared at him in shock. Then I quickly recovered. I started calmly. "I know. Us humans can be very cruel. Crueler than any other living being in the world." I clenched my fists. Raising my volume, I continued, "Even so! There are humans who are kind! Humans who are always ready to help others! Humans who care for the others, people and animal alike! Not all of the human kind is bad! I know there is always a dark side in every human, but that's because it's who we are! _Humans_! We're not Gods! Darkness plays an important part in life, too! Without a dark side, we would be separated, and being pure and kind hearted wouldn't mean a thing to us anymore!"

Now, everyone—except Mystic—were staring at me in shock. I was hoping that this would make him rethink twice before moving, but it only added more oil to the fire(1). He shouted a war cry and prepared to blast me away. I kept my eyes shut, waiting for the impact. But instead of pain, I felt myself falling to the ground, butt-first.  
"Ow!" I groaned, rubbing the place where it hurt the most. From the corner of my eyes I saw Mystic kicking pointy ears into a wall, while the other two slammed themselves into the giant monster.

"Riko!"  
"Wha-oof!"  
Before I could react, I saw a familiar figure crashed into me. I tried to pry Aoi off, but to no avail.  
"You really scared me back there…I'm glad you're fine." She said, relief present in her tone.  
Just then, two shiny objects fell down from the sky and we caught them. I had a bracelet which had a red pendant with orange rings circling around the edge attached to it, while Aoi had the similar one, but was azure colored with light bluish rings. I saw the fox… Sho, was it? And two fairy-like creatures walking towards us, smiling warmly.  
The male fairy with short, clean cut red hair and red eyes came towards me.  
"Uwaaah…that was some determination you got there! Your fire of unity is burning so brightly, and I could clearly feel your will of iron! I am called Union, your guardian fairy from now onwards! Please take care of me!" He said in a little boy's voice. I grinned at him. And I couldn't help but eavesdrop on Aoi and her fairy's conversation.  
"That was some speech you have there, Aoi! Not only I can see the fire of wisdom burning brightly inside of you, and the heart to protect the people you cared about, too! I am addressed as Wisdom, the fairy of Intelligence. Please, work together to defeat the people from the Black Realm."

We exchanged glances, then looked down at Sho.  
"Ah, don't call me Sho in this form-sho. Call me Busho instead-sho! I'll explain to you after this, so go help them first-sho!" He said, as if reading our minds. We sweatdropped.  
…Oh well, at least things are finally working out!

~Normal P.O.V~  
Riko and Aoi both held out their Guardian Pendants and slammed their palms into them. "Aegis! Pretty Cure Materialization!"  
They were surrounded by lights. New clothes replaced their casual clothes. Riko's hair grew slightly longer and was pinned into a side ponytail by a pin with a red heart attached to it and tied into two low twintails by two red bands. She wore a long red shirt with orange linings by the hem and two similar looking shoulder pads with orange linings. There was an orange ribbon attached to her chest. On her right arm she wore a black but half transparent fabric, held back by two red colored armbands. She wore red gloves with orange linings at the hems, with a crimson jewel embedded on each of the hem. A pinkish-colored band was tied to her left wrist. She wore two similar looking white belts; one of them was worn obliquely. There were decorations of rings on the middle of the belt. She wore red boy shorts with orange linings by the hem, embedded with crimson jewels which reached just above her knees. She wore clean white socks but with yellow and orange hems. She wore a pair of red shoes with orange fronts. She had two trinkets—a six-sided star and a crimson-colored heart—dangling from her belt.

Aoi's hair grew twice as longer as usual, tied into a very high ponytail. She wore a sleeveless blue dress, secured by a very thin belt, with light bluish frills on the sleeves and hem. She wore a pair of simple light bluish arm warmers and leg warmers. A light bluish ribbon was attached to her chest. She wore a pair of blue boots with six light bluish short stripes on each boot. Her trinkets consisted of a wisdom knot and an azure-colored heart.

As the light subsided, they stroke their respective poses.  
Riko shouted, "Maintaining a strong friendship and teamwork, Cure Unity!"  
Aoi followed shortly after, shouting, "To spread the knowledge and intelligence, Cure Intellect!"

Meanwhile, Equilibrium, Destiny and Cherish were lifted into the air by Butsubu. "Butsubu!" It roared, swinging the trio back and forth repeatedly.  
"*Cough* *Cough* How can he get so strong in just- *Cough* one week!?" Destiny exclaimed in midair.  
"I-I don't know!" Cherish replied.  
Equilibrium kept struggling. No matter how much he squirmed, he couldn't seem to make any effort. _'Damn it! Why is it so difficult to do this? I haven't been this weak before!'_ He thought.

"Pretty Cure, Crimson Spirit!"  
"Pretty Cure, Aqua Letters!"  
A crimson dragon-like flame and a chain of water alphabets and numbers shot out, rapidly combining together.  
"Combined Attack! Rushing Tranquility!" (**A/N:** LOL Sorry, couldn't think of anything else)  
The attacks struck Butsubu. It released the trio and returned back to its original form and disappeared.

Kiru clenched his fist tightly, mumbled quietly to himself and vanished. After that, everything returned to normal, like nothing had ever happened. Everyone who passed out awoke shortly after. Busho quickly transformed back to his human form. He and Mystic gave an explanation to the others. They also told them about the conversation between Mystic, Busho and Purity.

After a long pause, Riko broke the silence by whistling, followed by a "Wow." Everyone laughed at her antics—aside from Mystic who scoffed softly.  
"Hehehe, It certainly was surprising." Aoi said.  
"Nah, you'll get used to it." Myst replied.  
After chatting for awhile, Mystic stood up and said, "Guys, I'll head home for now. I'm really tired after all of these events."  
"O…kay, then. Rest properly, hear me? Besides, there's school tomorrow!" Myst said.  
"Alright, alright. Geez. C'mon, Sho. We're going." He said. He paused for awhile and said, "I'm leaving first, Tsubasa-san. See you guys tomorrow."  
"Huh? Shadow, you're leaving now? At least take these home for your parents. Don't worry, I'm giving you for free!" Tsubasa said while handing her teenage regular customer two paper boxes with slices of blueberry cheesecake.  
Mystic smiled slightly and said, "Thank you,Tsubasa-san." Then he walked into an alley, letting Sho turn back into a fox and headed back home. On the way, he his thoughts were filled with the battle earlier. _'Why have I weakened a lot more than before? What is restraining me from using my full potential?'_

Under the illumination of the dazzling sunset, an onyx crescent-shaped necklace shone brightly around the neck of a lone teenager.

~Chapter 3 End~

* * *

(1)In Chinese, there's an idiom called '火上加油(Huǒ shàng jiā yóu)'. It means causing something which is already bad to become even worse than before.

Mod: ...It's been a long time, huh? Sorry, guys, lately I've been busy with my new dA account and exams. And sorry if it seemed rushed at the last part. I've been writing this 'till late night.(3.05 a.m) Unfortunately, I completely passed out from tiredness on the bed as soon as I lied down...and missed my morning tuition class.(7.00 a.m) But nevermind! I can make it up by attending tuition classes on weekends! ... *Sighs* Whatever. Well, reviews!

Muhammad Izzat Awwal: Thank you for understanding! And don't worry, I will not forget this story. But I can't guarantee any fast updates, okay?


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